Peak Golden Immortal

Meng Chen stood at the Spacetime Anchor Point like an ancient divine being, his long, smooth black hair flowing behind him, radiating confidence.

He watched the ebb and flow of the River of Fate, and countless insights arose within him.

Every splash within the River of Fate was a person's lifetime. That person's life and death, fortune and misfortune, wealth and poverty, marriages and relationships... all were contained within it.

Yet the River of Fate was not fate itself. The fate projected by the River of Fate was merely the fate it was capable of carrying.

What Great Luo Golden Immortals could transcend was only the River of Fate itself, not true fate, because true fate was the union of the human heart and heaven, earth, and the universe.

People lived between heaven and earth, unable to act entirely as they wished, yet fate was greater even than heaven and earth.

The human heart determined the choices of living beings, while heaven, earth, and the universe provided the directions of those choices. The various changes within heaven and earth, the universe, and even beyond the mysterious yellow of heaven and earth would become variables that interfered with fate.

It was not as though every choice in life could succeed or reach its destination.

A Great Luo Golden Immortal might believe that transcending the River of Fate meant controlling his own destiny, and thus begin plotting to attain Sainthood and Chaotic Origin. But so long as Ancestor Hongjun did not permit it, all his schemes would be futile. The end of his plotting would be to become a pile of kalpa ash.

Other than the strongest, no one could escape the interference of external forces, much less grasp their own fate.

"All living beings, heaven and earth, Saints, Dao Ancestors, Pangu... all are shrouded by fate. Even Pangu, the strongest of all, remains beneath fate's veil. The difference between him and everyone else is that he can choose and determine his own fate."

Then Meng Chen understood.

The instant he comprehended the Law of Destiny, the Spacetime Anchor Point completely merged with his body, becoming one with him and never leaving his body again.

Splash!

Just before his cultivation was about to advance, he returned to the Jade Void Palace.

When Yuanshi Tianzun saw Meng Chen break through once more, his expression turned somewhat numb.

It was not that he thought Meng Chen's consecutive breakthroughs would make his foundation unstable. One's foundation was one's Dao Foundation. Meng Chen had comprehended the Nine Great Divine Powers he had created, so his Dao Foundation could not have been more stable.

Yuanshi Tianzun simply felt that, when faced with a disciple who understood everything at the slightest prompt, he, as the teacher, had no sense of accomplishment at all.

It was like a mass of Merit. No matter whose hands it fell into, it remained Merit. Its value would not be affected by whether its owner was a mortal or a Saint.

Of course, Yuanshi Tianzun was merely showing off. It was not as though he truly lacked a sense of accomplishment.

Without his protection and guidance, Meng Chen absolutely could not have accomplished this. Cultivating before a Saint was, in itself, an enormous opportunity.

One had to know that beings like Saints were practically equivalent to the Dao itself. So long as ordinary immortals glanced at a Saint and visualized the Saint's form, their cultivation could advance by leaps and bounds.

Now, Meng Chen had received Yuanshi Tianzun's personal instruction, and Yuanshi Tianzun had even supplied the energy he needed for cultivation using Saintly mana. Even great Divine Power wielders such as Old Ancestor Styx and Great Immortal Zhen Yuan would go mad over such excellent cultivation conditions.

While Yuanshi Tianzun was showing off, Meng Chen continued his breakthrough.

The aura of the Law of Destiny appeared around Meng Chen, and the divine radiance of fate lit up upon his body, illuminating the heavens and spreading throughout the ten directions of the universe. Within the Middle Thousand Worlds in his body, the Spacetime Anchor Point descended, and streams of Fate Power flowed out from it.

Meng Chen had only initially comprehended the Law of Destiny, and his control over it was still far from proficient. However, the Law of Destiny was the Law of Destiny. With it, he could combine the Law of Destiny with the River of Time and condense a River of Fate.

A Middle Thousand Worlds possessing a River of Fate would no longer be a Middle Thousand Worlds. It would transform into a Great Thousand World.

The rank of a world had never been measured solely by the size of its space. More precisely, spatial size was not the only criterion for determining a world's rank.

In a Small Chiliocosm, time and space were singular, making it the lowest class of world. Such worlds were usually End Dharma Worlds.

In a Middle Thousand Worlds, the River of Time connected every point in time, and time was no longer singular. The existence of the River of Time bestowed the space of a Middle Thousand Worlds with the passage of ages.

In a Great Thousand World, the existence of the River of Fate would bring a fundamental transformation to the time and space of a Middle Thousand Worlds, breaking the singularity of time and space. All living beings would no longer be single individuals; they would possess Alternate Selves.

Meng Chen's breakthrough this time was even more earth-shaking. Even the Grand Purity Palace and Biyou Palace could see the phenomenon soaring into the sky from the Jade Void Palace.

Meng Chen had cultivated the Law of Destiny, and the world within his body had advanced from a Middle Thousand Worlds to a Great Thousand World.

The River of Fate trembled and emerged from the void. A colorful rain of flowers descended, as though celebrating a rising talent who had cultivated to the Peak Golden Immortal stage.

Meng Chen's enormous Azure Dragon Avatar appeared above the Jade Void Palace. The Azure Dragon stretched across heaven and earth as if competing with the River of Fate itself. Its majestic dragon might spread outward, drawing all beasts of Kunlun Mountain to bow in worship.

Sage Laozi and Master Tongtian both witnessed the phenomenon at the Jade Void Palace, and disbelief filled their eyes.

How long had it been? He had already cultivated to the Peak Golden Immortal stage. Was Meng Chen really this formidable?

When Master Tongtian looked again at Daoist Duobao, whom he had favored, he instantly found him far less appealing. He had originally thought that even if Daoist Duobao was inferior to Meng Chen, the gap between them would not be too great.

But now, Daoist Duobao could not compare to Meng Chen at all. The two were like people from entirely different worlds. Before Meng Chen, Daoist Duobao had become nothing more than a useless talent.

Sage Laozi, however, had no intention of making comparisons.

Whether it was Meng Chen or Duo Bao, both were disciples of Xuanmen and juniors of the Three Pure Ones. Meng Chen's excellence brought honor to the Three Pure Ones as well.

The three brothers possessed tremendous prestige in the Primordial Wilderness. If all their juniors were merely second-generation immortals who flaunted the status of Saintly disciples to throw their weight around, then the three brothers would have no glory on their faces either.

"Excellent. My Xuanmen has worthy successors. So long as Meng Chen grows up, he will surely be able to uphold the banner of Xuanmen."

Sage Laozi was extremely delighted. Once he was delighted, he entered the Elixir Chamber and prepared to refine pills.

Yuanshi Tianzun and Master Tongtian had accepted disciples, so as their eldest brother, he had to offer some token of goodwill.

After Meng Chen successfully broke through, the phenomenon above the Jade Void Palace gradually faded, and Meng Chen emerged from his cultivation state as well.

Peak Golden Immortal was the highest realm he could currently reach. His Dao attainment was still insufficient; he was not yet capable of breaking through into the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Realm.

Even so, he was extremely satisfied.

At the very least, his position as Eldest Senior Brother was secure. Even if the others joined forces, he was confident he could suppress them.

"Teacher, you helped this disciple break through. I have no way to repay such grace!"

Meng Chen solemnly bowed.

Yuanshi Tianzun did not charge him tuition, freely taught him Daoist arts, and helped him break through. This was an immense kindness. Though Meng Chen cared somewhat about profit, he also understood the principle of repaying kindness.

Yuanshi Tianzun was very pleased with Meng Chen's attitude. He waved a hand and said something astonishing, "If you wish to repay your teacher, then attain Great Luo as soon as possible and take over the affairs of My Teaching."